Minister Ng meets with Brampton Board of Trade to discuss export opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses
News release
November 12, 2018 – Brampton, Ontario
Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) are a key component in expanding Canadian trade and growing the economy.
To promote export opportunities for SMEs, the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion, met with small business stakeholders in Brampton, Ontario, to highlight the importance of export and entrepreneurship.
Minister Ng spoke at the Brampton Board of Trade's Small Business Innovation Breakfast. She also participated in a discussion on the importance of trade deals like the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and promoted the opportunities and supports available for businesses to start up, scale up and access new markets. The Minister continued these discussions at a roundtable with members of the Canada-India export business community.
SMEs make up over 99% of all Canadian businesses and employ over 10 million hard-working Canadians from coast to coast to coast. By helping businesses start up, scale up and access new markets, we will grow the economy and create middle-class jobs.
"As a small business-friendly government, we're working hard to make it easier for Canadians to do business here at home and abroad. Canada's trade agreements provide our SMEs with access to over a billion global customers, yet only around 12% of SMEs export. By promoting export opportunities among Canada's innovative SMEs, we will help grow the economy and create good middle-class jobs from coast to coast to coast."
– The Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion
Quick facts
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) account for the vast majority of businesses in Canada—99.8%. Over 1.1 million SMEs employ about 90% of the private sector workforce (over 10.6 million Canadians) and are responsible for over 52% of Canadian GDP generated by private sector businesses.
Our government is lowering the small business tax rate to 9% in 2019, putting $7,500 back into Canadian small business owners' pockets annually.
To help SMEs find funding, advice and information, the Government launched Innovation Canada, an online one-stop shop for business owners.
On average, SMEs that export pay higher wages than firms that do not export; however, only 11.8% of Canadian SMEs export.
The Government is helping SMEs expand into new markets abroad—and reach over 1 billion new customers—by promoting export through the negotiation and implementation of free trade agreements, such as the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
